Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 203 / Monday, October 25, 2021 / Rules and Regulations quad reduction in site energy use over a 30-year analysis period or a 10-percent reduction in site energy use over that same period. Id.
E. Economic Justification 1. Specific Criteria EPCA provides seven factors to be evaluated in determining whether a potential energy conservation standard is economically justified. 42 U.S.C.
6295o2BiIVII The following sections discuss how DOE has addressed each of those seven factors in this final determination.

jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with RULES1

a. Economic Impact on Manufacturers and Consumers In determining the impacts of potential amended standards on manufacturers, DOE conducts a manufacturer impact analysis MIA.
DOE first uses an annual cash-flow approach to determine the quantitative impacts. This step includes both a shortterm assessmentbased on the cost and capital requirements during the period between when a regulation is issued and when entities must comply with the regulationand a long-term assessment over a 30-year period. The industrywide impacts analyzed include 1
industry net present value, which values the industry on the basis of expected future cash flows; 2 cash flows by year; 3 changes in revenue and income; and 4 other measures of impact, as appropriate. Second, DOE
analyzes and reports the impacts on different types of manufacturers, including impacts on small manufacturers. Third, DOE considers the impact of standards on domestic manufacturer employment and manufacturing capacity, as well as the potential for standards to result in plant closures and loss of capital investment.
Finally, DOE takes into account cumulative impacts of various DOE
regulations and other regulatory requirements on manufacturers.
For individual consumers, measures of economic impact include the changes in LCC and PBP associated with new or amended standards. These measures are discussed further in the following section. For consumers in the aggregate, DOE also calculates the national net present value of the consumer costs and benefits expected to result from particular standards. DOE also evaluates the impacts of potential standards on identifiable subgroups of consumers that may be affected disproportionately by a standard.
As discussed further in section V.C of this document, DOE has concluded amended standards for MHLFs would
VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:11 Oct 22, 2021

Jkt 256001

not be cost-effective and by extension, would not be economically justified for the potential standard levels evaluated based on the PBP and LCC analysis.
Therefore, DOE did not conduct an MIA
analysis or LCC subgroup analysis for this final determination.
b. Savings in Operating Costs Compared To Increase in Price LCC and PBP
EPCA requires DOE to consider the savings in operating costs throughout the estimated average life of the covered product in the type or class compared to any increase in the price of, or in the initial charges for, or maintenance expenses of, the covered product that are likely to result from a standard. 42
U.S.C. 6295o2BiII DOE conducts this comparison in its LCC and PBP
analysis.
The LCC is the sum of the purchase price of a product including its installation and the operating cost including energy, maintenance, and repair expenditures discounted over the lifetime of the product. The LCC
analysis requires a variety of inputs, such as product prices, product energy consumption, energy prices, maintenance and repair costs, product lifetime, and discount rates appropriate for consumers. To account for uncertainty and variability in specific inputs, such as product lifetime and discount rate, DOE uses a distribution of values, with probabilities attached to each value.
The PBP is the estimated amount of time in years it takes consumers to recover the increased purchase cost including installation of a moreefficient product through lower operating costs. DOE calculates the PBP
by dividing the change in purchase cost due to a more-stringent standard by the change in annual operating cost for the year that standards are assumed to take effect.
For its LCC and PBP analysis, DOE
assumes that consumers will purchase the covered products in the first year of compliance with new or amended standards. The LCC savings for the considered efficiency levels are calculated relative to the case that reflects projected market trends in the absence of new or amended standards.
DOEs LCC and PBP analysis is discussed in further detail in section IV.F.
c. Energy Savings Although significant conservation of energy is a separate statutory requirement for adopting an energy conservation standard, EPCA requires DOE, in determining the economic justification of a standard, to consider
PO 00000

Frm 00005

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

58767

the total projected energy savings that are expected to result directly from the standard. 42 U.S.C. 6295o2BiIII
As discussed in section IV.H, DOE uses the NIA spreadsheet models to project national energy savings.
d. Lessening of Utility or Performance of Products In establishing product classes, and in evaluating design options and the impact of potential standard levels, DOE
evaluates potential standards that would not lessen the utility or performance of the considered products. 42 U.S.C.
6295o2BiIV Based on data available to DOE, the standards analyzed in this document would not reduce the utility or performance of the products under consideration in this rulemaking. DOE also determined that analyzed standards would not result in the unavailability performance characteristics of products under consideration that are generally available at the time of this rulemaking.
42 U.S.C. 6295o4
e. Impact of Any Lessening of Competition EPCA directs DOE to consider the impact of any lessening of competition, as determined in writing by the Attorney General, that is likely to result from a standard. 42 U.S.C.
6295o2BiV It also directs the Attorney General to determine the impact, if any, of any lessening of competition likely to result from a standard and to transmit such determination to the Secretary within 60
days of the publication of a proposed rule, together with an analysis of the nature and extent of the impact. 42
U.S.C. 6295o2Bii Because DOE is not amending standards for MHLFs, DOE did not transmit a copy of its proposed determination to the Attorney General.
f. Need for National Energy Conservation DOE also considers the need for national energy and water conservation in determining whether a new or amended standard is economically justified. 42 U.S.C. 6295o2BiVI
The energy savings from the adopted standards are likely to provide improvements to the security and reliability of the Nations energy system.
Reductions in the demand for electricity also may result in reduced costs for maintaining the reliability of the Nations electricity system.
DOE maintains that environmental and public health benefits associated with the more efficient use of energy are important to take into account when
E:FRFM25OCR1.SGM

25OCR1